Changing Seasons. Summer VI, part 3 (c) (i)

Summer VI, part 3 (c) Thirteen weeks to go. He’d probably better start doing some research into what they might need when the baby came, Frank thought. He’d gone up to Minnie’s main shop and picked up the key for this one and was browsing. Well, panicking slightly, actually. He felt much more at home in the DIY store!
“Let me know if you need any help,” Minnie had said. “Tell you what, we’re going to need to be staffing these shops full-time instead of just at weekends quite soon. Mayor Tench was telling me that they’ll be starting work on the old arena soon and he “reckons as it’ll be goin’ up real quick seein’ as there ain’t no fancy frills to it, and all the plumbin’ and stuff is there anyway.” Artie’s new book is selling really well, and he’s putting a lot of the profits into the arena, and Chas and Sal are putting the profits from their horse sales into it as well…once the racing’s back here, we’ll have people wanting to shop while their other halves watch the races. We’ll need more things for children to do as well…”
He could do with Minnie’s help though. What did children need? This was confusing.
Cot. He was pretty sure they’d need that. But what else?
There was a little shop looked like fun. He wondered if there was a My First Workbench version as well. Though maybe not a My First Soldering kit…Was there a handy book on those shelves on what you needed for a first baby on a budget? Nine weeks to go. Or maybe eleven, of course (they’d had problems pinpointing the date of conception) and weren’t first babies often late? But he’d stick with nine. He should be able to get this old car finished before the baby was born, no problem, and then they could kit out the baby room with the profit from it. Honey was still at the school, putting in extra time there, tidying and preparing for when she would be off with the baby. But she’d be home soon, and then they’d plan what they wanted to get for the baby. In order of prority! Four weeks to go, and another late-night session working on the car. But she was finished! One final coat of wax before her new owner arrived to collect her tomorrow. And this would make a big difference to their budget, this sale.
And there might be a commission to do up another one. “I can’t promise anything,” the buyer had said, “but I’ll be showing this baby off to quite a few friends, and I’ll mention your name.”
I could do with a proper workshop though, Frank thought. Covering it over with tarps every night wasn’t ideal and took up time. And there’d be a lot less of that soon. Two weeks to go! Or possibly four, of course, but basically they’d got this room done in nice time. Furnished from the sale of the car, and with enough over to build his workshop and still have money left in their savings account. He’d get changed and go downstairs and join Honey – it was nice to have a bit of quiet time together now that the car was finished and the room was ready. Before the baby came. “And doesn’t your mummy look pretty in this dress? In a couple of weeks or so, you’ll get to see her in it. You have the prettiest mummy ever.”
“Thank you,” Honey said, glowing with quiet pleasure at his compliment. “It was Annette’s – she passed it on to me. With cries of, ‘I’m never going to need it again, and it might come in useful for you as it’s so warm now.’ And as we’re both blondes, it suits me as well as it suited her.” “Two weeks to go! Or maybe four, of course…I’m not sure I feel ready for this yet!”
“And you don’t have to do the giving birth bit either! We’ve got so many offers of lifts to the hospital now – Rafe, Marcus, Vic Meithers…I wouldn’t have wanted to go there on the back of the scooter.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to risk it,” Frank said, teasing her back just as she was teasing him. “We’d be so unstable to start with, even before you had a contraction…”
“Humph!” “So we finished the summer term two weeks later than usual, and we’re going to start the autumn term two weeks late as well. And Patience is going to cover for me for those first seven weeks of term. The building’s tidy, sorted, organised…”
Honey flipped over the pages of her recipe book, looking for a new meal to try out. She so appreciated having a bookshop in the town. “This sounds nice…” “How does Euan feel about Patience working?”
“She’ll have Barnabas-the-Blue! He’s just going to have the younger three. And there’s plenty of help on offer in a patchwork sort of way. We’ll get this done together.”
Together. They would. School would go on running for the children, and Patience would enjoy teaching again. Mayor Tench had been talking about needing a bigger school building, and he was right. And having another teacher too wouldn’t hurt in a while. Maybe when Patience’s younger three were at school as well.
Frank was reading a baby development book – Byron had a fair selection of them in the shop. “Well, it’s all very well to say you can borrow someone else’s or lend yours out,” Byron had said when Frank had quizzed him on this. “But actually, a good baby development book is something you refer to a lot, especially at the beginning. And there’s a lot of babies and toddlers around here.” There’d had a good man-to-man chat about the best baby book for Frank and Honey. “What do you mean, you’re going into labour now? I haven’t finished reading the manual yet!”
Both their books had been suddenly cast aside.
“Never mind the manual! Phone someone!” “And here we are. You and me and little Bella.” Bella for beautiful, Frank had said, when he’d first seen his daughter. Beautiful, just like her mother.
“I am so happy,” Honey said simply.
And looking into his wife’s shining-with-joy eyes, Frank was the happiest he’d ever been too. This was home: home with his wife and child in it. And Maddie out of it, and out of his life too. This was the place where he had friends. And this was a place he was helping to rebuild, him and Honey between them. He’d work on the buildings, and she would help all the children to grow well and learn. Together, they would help make this town be a good place to live in again. “Clara Anne, you have made a horrible mess here! And we’re trying to have a serious business meeting as well.” “It’s these reds that are getting the mentions now, the promising newcomer ones. So that’s what I think we’re going to concentrate on,” Marcus said to Jean-Paul. “The whites also, I think they have promise,” Claudette said thoughtfully.
“You’re right,” Marcus agreed. “But it’s the reds people are asking for. I think we need to capitalise on this momentum…” “Okay,” Annette said a few minutes later. She was the master of succinctness! “So that’s the outline of our plan for the next three years, though we’ll be assessing it on a season-by-season basis of course. But what about the three of you? What’s your plan, long-term? I mean, we are going to go on needing help, so you have your jobs here for as long as you want them. We’re very happy with your work.” “Well,” Claudette said, and Marcus exchanged knowing glances with his wife! Claudette was the driving force in the family, the determined one with a vision for what might be. The discussion went on for quite a while! With a pause to put the children to bed, make some coffee and demolish a plate and a half of doughnuts.
“So,” Marcus said in conclusion. “You want to start up a winery here as well. I don’t see why you shouldn’t – or can’t – do that…”Three faces lit up simultaneously.
“And as it happens, Annette and I can give you the low-down on some likely start-up costs. We had a meeting yesterday with Rafe and Mayor Tench to talk about proposed business rates.” “Five per cent of our profits, that’s what our business rates are going to be. Honey having her baby sort of made it obvious that we need to finance the school properly now. Which we can afford to do as a town, very nicely. Then the next thing is building a clinic: just a basic one, not a giant hospital. That’s going to come out of town funds too. And Chas was telling us about the health care system in England. We’re going to pay Vic a salary for one day a week, to run a free childcare clinic. Our children are the future of this town: they need the best start possible. We’re also going to do free ante-natal and post-natal check-ups. Vic’s looking around for a midwife as well, someone who’d fit in here and enjoy being part of what we’re building.”
Pierre was paying close attention to what Annette was saying: of the three of them he was the one who was seriously sharp with numbers. The three of them made a formidable team. “But as far as location goes,” Marcus said to Claudette, “because you’re already living here, you’ll get your pick of a location for free. We’re going to charge a minimal rate for someone moving into the area - and that will go up as the town grows - and we’re also planning a low-interest loans system, subject to approval of the business plan. Annette and I, we’d be okay with you dropping one day a week so that you can start up your new place in tandem with working for us. As long as they’re three different days in the week!” he added hastily. “You take everyone over to see that site,” Marcus said. “I’ll deal with the rabble. It’s ages since you’ve had anything that even vaguely resembles an outing.”
“Great!” said Annette. “And thanks, too. Have fun with your girls.”
“Well, my favourite one won’t be there…but I’ll see what I can do. Clara's going to come over and see her namesake.”
"See if you an talk some sense into her about Byron. I got nowhere."
"I'll try - but I'm not too optimistic." “Like ours, this plot is near the river. So you won’t have any problems with irrigation – unlike the lakes, there’s no history of the river running dry. And the pollution is long gone now, and we’re going to keep it that way! If you want your business plan to be approved, you’ll have to commit to organic, like we have.” “But always, that was the plan.” If Claudette was the planner and Pierre the money man, Jean-Paul was the salesman and publicist. “To have the green credentials – it is good. We have a good story: three siblings making wine. We do not spoil it by polluting this so beautiful place. We help preserve it, help it grow. To foul your own back yard – pfui! Where is the sense in that? No. We will start another vineyard, little by little, and we learn from you as well. And Claudette says, if we develop the white wines, then we do not compete with you, and people come here for both, non?” “And I will show that so-arrogant cousin of mine that a woman also, she can be a wine maker. I will make him eat – no, drink – his words."
“You know what, Claudette? You’re going to be a really good role model for our girls. I’m so glad you’re going to stay here and give this a go.” “Real pretty, ain’t they? Grandpa Geo gave them to me from his garden and I reckoned I’d put me some here too. Ain’t so sad doin’ that now, rememberin’ the good times.”
Bess nodded sagely. “Know what you mean. ‘Course, after Joe died, I still had John – and then Molly came along and the grandchildren too…There was always a reason to go on.”
“Well, I’ve found my own reasons for wantin’ to go on now. Ones as is better than just wantin’ to make sure that thievin’ company went on payin’ fer what they did.” “Young Chas was tellin’ me ‘bout mayors in England and ‘bout the Lord Mayor of London town. You know that Dick Whittington? Turns out he was a real person! Sal lent me a book ‘bout him: The Load of Unicorn, by this Cynthia Harnett woman. Real interestin’ it was too.”
“I’ll be borrowing that as well then! You want to come for lunch? There’s plenty to go round, and that Andy Ravenscroft guy was hoping to see you sometime too.”
“His boss was comin’ over, wasn’t he? Mebbe he wants to ask me ‘bout the history of the place. Ain’t goin’ to refuse a chance to eat your cookin’ neither.” “You know, this place is lookin’ real good now. Joe’d be right proud of what you’ve done here.”
“Well, you’ve been a real help. Wouldn’t have got anywhere near as much done without you.”
“It’s been my privilege, Bess, been my privilege.” “You know, that Chas was saying as how only men could be mayors at one time. But their wives, they had a role too, ‘n that Lord Mayor of London, his wife was the Lady Mayoress.
Bess Preston, how’d you feel ‘bout becomin’ my Lady Mayoress?”
“Mayor Thomas Tench, I can’t think of anything I’d like better.” “Know what? Your Joe and my Mary – they’d be right pleased to know we was takin’ care of each other now.”
“I reckon you’re right about that.”